wabi sabi

Jaime Lannister

I read a ‘joke’ in Reddit about how the Stark Children reunion looked like.

Jon Snow says: I started off as a Crow and ended up as the King in the North.

Arya says: I started off as a street urchin and ended up as No One.

Bran says: I started off as a quadriplegic and ended up as the three eyed raven.

Sansa says: I got raped by different men and now … shit.

This is one of the most insensitive manner to portray Sansa’s struggles in GoT. Sansa Stark has had a remarkable character arch from the first season till the latest. From a pretty little spoilt girl who got delighted at the prospect of marrying Jeffrey Baratheon and bearing his children to becoming the Lady of the Winterfell the journey has been arduous. She has spent some of her formative years in Kings Landing, under the watchful eyes of Cersei. But at the same time Cersei gave some sage advice to her. Take for example that conversation between Sansa and Cersei after Sansa becomes a woman.

Those Eyes Speak More Than Anything Else

She has seen her father getting killed brutally, been shown the prospect of marriage with or married to six different male characters – Joffrey Baratheon, Loras Tyrell, Tyrion Lannister, Robin Arryn, Peter Baelish, Roose Bolton, she has seen Joffrey bleed to death, she has seen Lysa Arryn being thrown down the Moon Door by Baelish, inappropriately touched by Baelish, been raped by Roose Bolton, been psychologically tortured by Joffrey and by the courtiers of Kings Landing. These circumstances are absolutely trying for a Princess who was in fact groomed to be the next Queen of Kings Landing.

She has grown stronger as each year passed by and has now become an able administrator. She keeps her cards close to her chest. Even Peter Baelish is not able to have the hold on her that he thought he will continue to have. She has outgrown all her obstacles

The Lady of Winterfell

In the latest episode, when Peter keeps warning about Cersei and says he knows Cersei the best and Sansa retorts, “You don’t know Cersei better than anyone here” implying that Cersei has had considerable influence on her during her time in the Capital. Sansa, is now a smart, political savvy woman who means business. For all we know, she might end up the Queen of the Kings Landing as planned by her parents.

and

May Be, its Maybelline.

Jaime Lannister

If there is a tragic hero in the Game of Thrones, that is Jaime Lannister.

You know what they call him – The King Slayer, The Oath Breaker, Man without Honour. His father was most proud of him though. No matter what others may brand him, this magnificent being called his father is proud of him. I think that kept him on. That and his love for Cersei. The most handsome man in the Kings Landing likes no other women than his sister. He is honourable in his own weird way.

You simply do not

Spite The Knight of Flowers. Ouch.

Jaime Lannister is a Prince. Son of one of the most powerful man in Westeros and behaved with that arrogance only the Lord-lings possess. Yet he is not a completely hopeless person like many others. His feelings are genuine. He is not an innately cruel person. True, he may not have a grand ideology like Tyrion that guides his life. His concerns are immediate – his sister, his children, and his family’s survival. In that way, Jaime is a lot like Tywin, who has put his family’s honour at the top of his concern.

Jaime, really is not the inhuman predator that he is made out to be. His strength and flaw is Love. The things he does for love. Like pushing a 9-year old from the top of a castle. Or silently watching Cersei transform into the Mad Queen. Or standing by and doing nothing while Tyrion is made to suffer for a crime that he did not do. Or having a change of heart and finally helping his little brother escape his predicament. His love for those around him has dictated his actions.

The Love Which is Taboo.

He comes across as a heavily misunderstood man overshadowed by his father’s imperious image. He himself quite can’t bring about to be assertive in front of Tywin compared to Tyrion or even Cersei. He was the Golden Boy of his father.

One of his best moments has been with Brianne of Tarth. I really loved their track. The kind of mutual respect they had for each other, I think, was rare in Jaime’s life.

Jaime’s is a cursed life. With an irreparable black mark on his moral by killing the King he had sworn to protect, by loving that one woman he is not supposed to love, by not able to love his own children like how he wants to love, and losing his one precious asset which defines him – his right hand, by losing his children one after the other in front of his own eyes, he has become a tragic figure.